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When transporting and storing liquid fuels, explosive atmospheres can form which, under certain conditions, can be initiated with different sources, of which static electricity has proven to be the source of ignition in many cases of fires and explosions that have occurred. As a result of the environmental regulatory requirements to reduce the noxes emitted by diesel engines, the oil industry introduced into production fuels with ultra-low sulfur content (ULSD Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel), clean burning diesel, and low sulfur content (LSD Low Sulfur Diesel). The new types of fuels present a greater risk of explosion than fuels with a high sulfur content because they have other explosive characteristics and are electrostatically charged much more easily. The paper presents some aspects regarding the risk of explosions during the transport and storage of liquid fuels with the highlighting of additional risks in the case of ULSD Also, the paper highlights the factors that must be taken into account when establishing the technical and organizational measures that must be taken to prevent ignition and that must be implemented in the work procedures of manufacturers, suppliers, transporters and users of ULSD.

Ceramic materials as coatings are known to have very good corrosion resistance properties compared to metallic or organic coatings, regardless of environmental conditions. The following samples were used for the experiments: an initial steel substrate and Al2O3 + YSZ (12.5%; 25% and 37.5% wt) atmospheric plasma spray-coated samples. The open circuit potential showed similar average values for all samples coated with ceramic layers, which were slightly higher than the potential of the original uncoated sample. The corrosion current densities (icorr) of all plasma jet sputter-coated systems were very similar and significantly lower than those of the original material. Corrosion rates were much lower in the coated systems due to the chemical inertness of the ceramic coatings, particularly alumina- and zirconia-based coatings. It was observed that ceramic layers improve the corrosion resistance of the metallic material, especially at higher percentages of YSZ in the plasma spray-deposited complex layer. The porosity of the sputter-deposited layers reduced their corrosion resistance due to the contact between the electrolyte solution and the metal substrate created by the interconnection of the pores. The complex equivalent electrical circuit chosen for the analysis of the values led to results in accordance with the experimental parameters.

A new non-sparking metallic material, Cu-Ti, with applications in potentially explosive environments is proposed as an alternative to CuBe, to reduce the processing and toxic effects of Be. Using high-purity Cu and Ti materials, a Cu (~3–4 wt%) Ti alloy with good chemical and structural homogeneity was fabricated in an induction furnace under an Ar atmosphere. The hot-rolled material was tested in an explosive gas mixture (10% H2 or 6.5% CH4) under extremely severe wear tests for 15,000 cycles, and no hot sparks were produced to ignite the medium. The material was investigated as hot-rolled plates (600 s at 950 °C and 10% reduction). The microstructures and surface of the wear test samples were investigated by light optical microscopy (LOM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical compositions were determined by energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The corrosion behavior was studied using electrochemical techniques: open-circuit, linear, and cyclic potentiometry in saline electrolyte solutions. The mechanical properties, such as microhardness and friction coefficient, were determined using UMT equipment. The results showed that the alloy is suitable for applications requiring non-ignition properties, with good hot rolling deformability and chemical composition homogeneity. Regarding the corrosion analysis and mechanical properties of the experimental CuTi alloy, minor differences were observed between the cast- and hot-rolled material.

In order to improve the safety and health protection of workers who may be exposed to a potential risk due to explosive atmospheres, in every industrial area where such atmospheres may occur, the employer shall ensure the development and updating of a document called Explosion Protection Document. The main chapter of this document is the Explosion Risk Assessment. Risk assessment is a complex process that involves identifying the risk, analyzing the risk and estimating the risk, the main purpose of assessing the level of risk being to establish the necessary protection measures to reduce it to acceptable levels. This paper identifies the factors that may influence the level of risk of explosions in the workplace in order to establish the protection measures required to reduce the risk to acceptable levels. Explosion risk assessment must be performed by competent persons with knowledge of technical, electrical and mechanical engineering and who understand the general principles of explosion protection.

As science and technology have developed, new types of equipment and installations with increased reliability and safety have emerged, with belt conveyors now available with many more components, highly sophisticated electrical controls and safety devices, as well as stronger and more durable belts. New technologies create new challenges in assessing explosion risks when installed in environments with potentially explosive atmospheres, such as in firedamp mines. The challenges are greater in the case of old installations that are being modernized to meet current explosion safety requirements. The paper presents a series of aspects regarding the assessment of the risk of explosions in mining belt conveyors, an assessment that employers must make, according to GD 1049/2006 (European Directive 92/104/EEC). The assessment must be based on compliance with the requirements of the ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU and the applicable standards. For surface installations, there is the draft standard IEC TS 60079-46 used for risk assessment but which does not apply to mine equipment assemblies susceptible to firedamp (group I applications). For mining installations there is no specific evaluation method or guide, therefore evaluators must generate their own evaluation method based on the norms and standards in force such as SR EN 1127-2: 2014, SR EN 60079-0:2018+AC, SR EN ISO 80079-36:2016, SR EN ISO 80079-37:2016, SR EN ISO/IEC 80079-38: 2017 (SR EN 1710+A1:2008 /AC:2011).

Personal protective equipment used by workers to protect them against one or more risks that could endanger their safety and health at work can acquire electrostatic charges as a result of the friction phenomenon that occurs during movements during work tasks, respectively the induction phenomenon, a situation in which the transfer of electrostatic charges occurs from highly electrostatically charged objects such as, for example, a FIBC into which a powdery material is poured. In the case of using personal protective equipment in environments with a risk of potentially explosive atmospheres and under the conditions mentioned above, they may constitute a risk, namely that of initiating potentially explosive atmospheres through electrostatic discharges that occur when dangerous electrostatic potentials accumulate. Personal protective equipment intended for use in explosive atmospheres must be designed and manufactured in such a way that it cannot be the source of an electric or electrostatic arc or spark which could ignite a potentially explosive atmosphere. To ensure the highest possible level of occupational health and safety, an important role is played by the selection of personal protective equipment intended for use in environments with a potentially explosive atmosphere, depending on the risk factors and the classification of hazardous areas Ex.

Due to the tightening of air pollution laws and employee safety regulations, manufacturers are being forced to pay more and more attention to removing dust particles from the air released by their installations. This requires them to install large complex dust collection systems in all their facilities. Dust collection systems include collection points where air and entrained dust are drawn into a system of pipes that carry dust and air, fans that feed the movement of air, and dust collectors that separate dust from air. Dust collectors are mostly dry type. Dry-type dust collectors are divided into cyclones and bag-type dust collectors. As dust can create an explosive atmosphere, it is necessary to assess the risk of explosions and to establish appropriate measures to prevent the explosion or, as the case may be, to limit the effects of explosions. The paper presents aspects related to the evaluation of the risk of explosions at dust removal installations with emphasis on the risk of initiating the explosive dust / air atmosphere through electrostatic discharges.

Medical profession helps people not only by healing the body but also the soul. Medicine has been by man's side since its beginnings, and a society that lacks care for man is doomed to suffering. Even if sometimes the doctors who became literate abandoned the path of practicing medicine, their thoughts turned consciously or not to this noble profession. As Richard Gordon said, without medicine we could not talk about the human being himself: \"Man's activities have been hopelessly open to disaster since that calamitous business of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Best treatment is to admit, to analyze, to avoid. Medicine readily confesses its share. But what a disaster, were there no doctors amid the world's unending catalogue of disasters.\"1 Literature is just one of the languages that doctors use to relate to the world and reality. Of all the exact sciences, medicine is the closest to literary fiction. The art of the word is a reference to what defines us as people. Human gregariousness had to be supported through communication, and medicine has language as its main means of existence and of creating deep inter-human connections. Hence the naturalness of the expression of deep feelings on the page written by those who heal their fellow men physically.

Anthropogenic activities related to mining generate both progress and a vast amount of waste that is responsible for environmental degradation. The Jiu Valley is one of the areas of Romania where mining has affected large areas of land, used to build mines and tailings ponds. The former Coroiesti coal processing plant (CCPP) is such a location with a total area of 25 ha containing approximately 5.5 million tons of tailings. The assessment of the stability of tailings dams is extremely important from safety and environmental aspects. This study proposes a solution based on numerical methods for determining the stability of a section of the dam of a tailings pond. The model of tailings pond no. 1, compartment B, from the Coroieşti Coal Preparation was built using COMSOL Multiphysics. Two scenarios of stability analysis were conducted on a section of the tailings dam: the FOS was determined using the shear strength reduction (SSR) method for both the initial and the current state of this TP. This method is a modern alternative to the limit equilibrium method, and its implementation by COMSOL is new to our country, thus aligning this methodology with current worldwide trends and developments in the field. The results obtained proved to be in line with those calculated in the past with traditional analytical methods, proving that the safety criteria of the studied TP/TD are being met.

Electrical contacts are important circuit components with diverse industrial applications, and their failure can lead to multiple unwanted effects. Hence, the behavior of electrical contacts is a widely studied topic in the scientific literature based on various approaches, tools, and techniques. The present study proposes a new approach to numerical modeling and simulation based on the Holm contact theory, aiming to study the dependence between the electric potential and the temperature within an electrical contact. Structured in five sections, the research was conducted using COMSOL Multiphysics software (version 5.3) and its solid-state mechanics, electric current, and heat transfer modules in order to highlight contact behavior from mechanical, electrical and thermal points of view: the von Mises stress, contact force, electric field amplitude, variation of the electrical potential along the current path, temperature gradient, and dependence of temperature along the contact elements edges were obtained by simulation, and are graphically represented. The results show that the temperature increase follows a parabolic curve, and that for values higher than 4 mV of voltage drop, the temperature of the contact increases to 79.25 degrees (and up to 123.81 degrees for 5 mV) over the ambient temperature, thus the integrity of insulation can be compromised. These values are close (10–12%) to the analytically calculated ones, and also in line with research assessed in the literature review.